This book [1] says the popular narrative is wrong, and that "mom & pop" businesses/households were never in danger. It wasn't a bank bailout to save accounts... that would have been covered by an existing program like the FDIC[2]. It was, rather a hedge-fund / gamblers bailout.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Great-Deformation-Corruption-Capitalis...
[2] Technically the FDIC has a trivial amount of money, this link [3] shows how laughable it is in the casino of Wall St.
[3] http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/fdic/fdic.html